Objective: This qualitative study sought to understand the psychosocial impacts of a therapeutic yoga intervention for individuals with PD originally designed to improve balance and fear of falling. The intervention was an eight week, two sessions per week, progressively difficult, modified yoga that included a combination of standing, sitting, and supine positions. Postures, breathing, and meditation were included in all sessions.

Background: PD can contribute to falls, fear of falling, decreased strength, balance, and reduced quality of life. Yoga has been associated with improvement in many functional outcomes including balance, flexibility, strength, and mental and emotional well-being. However, there is limited understanding of the psychosocial impacts of yoga on individuals with PD

Methods: Focus groups were conducted in the final phase of an after-trial, embedded, mixed methods study. Participants included individuals with PD with a fear of falling, completed an eight week therapeutic yoga intervention, and were willing to participate in a focus group (n=17). Structured questions guided the focus groups and were related to general intervention effects, transference of effects, psychosocial impacts, and programmatic aspects. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the focus group transcripts to understand the psychosocial impacts.

Results: The table below summarizes the preliminary results of the content analysis: Categories: Representative participant quote. Expanding PD social networks: “…you meet with Parkinson’s people, you share, and you pick up all kinds of useful information…this yoga class really helped with that.” Increasing awareness and acceptance of PD: “It just has increased my awareness; it put me more in touch with my own limitations.” Combating PD: “We’re going to fight this thing (PD) and this is another weapon in the toolbox to fight it with.” Improving leisure participation: “It just makes me enjoy my hobby a whole lot more, because now I can calm myself down…”

Conclusions: Participants in the therapeutic yoga intervention experienced various psychosocial impacts beyond the original intent of the intervention. The experience of yoga contributed to improved function that was relevant to their daily living with PD. Practicing yoga with other individuals with PD provided them with social resources and tools to combat the progression of PD while increasing awareness and acceptance of limitations. Recreational therapist may find this type of therapeutic yoga useful to improve valuable psychosocial outcomes.

References: Adkin, A., Frank, J., & Jog, M. (2003). Fear of falling and postural control in Parkinson’s disease. Movement Disorders, 18(5), 496–502. Cameron, M. (2006). Yoga. In M. Snyder & R. Lindquist (Eds.), Complementary /Alternative Therapies in Nursing (pp. 107–116). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. Creswell, J., Klassen, A. C., Plano Clark, V., & Smith, K. C. (2011). Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in the Health Sciences. Hinson, V. K., Bergmann, K. J., Revuelta, G. J., & Vaughan, C. L. (2014). A Primer on Parkinson’s Disease. In Movement Disorders Program of the Medical University of South Carolina. Retrieved from http://www.muschealth.org/neurosciences/services/movement-disorders/forms/A Primer on Parkinsons Disease_03_07_14.pdf. Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. http://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/perceived-psychosocial-impacts-of-a-therapeutic-yoga-intervention-for-individuals-with-parkinsons-disease-pd/